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Book Description

This book by Matt Bernstein Sycamore is a real definition of an anthology because it is diverse, absolutely readable, challenging, intriguing, and a compilation of generally high quality works of different contributors. “Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity” is a wonderful, readable book that not only has a gender and cultural baffling aspect but often hilarious. In its structure and composition, Nobody Passes is a compilation of memoirs, interviews, and fiction essays meant to challenge the concept of belonging through examination of the precarious relation of identity, community, and categorization, coupled with the challenge of societal values and countercultural standards. In this book, the authors explore and evaluate various power systems. For instance, according to the contributors, in a pass-fail situation, acceptance standards may differ, but somebody will always be tramped down on by others. In “Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity” anthology, the author seeks to eradicate the pressure to pass and in turn show the delightful as well as the distressing transformation opportunities that may follow. The author, Matt Bernstein Sycamore, with her history of editing anthologies based on blatant gender boldness and nonconformance, she commences by asking about the lies that people are required to tell in order to be accepted. The book then gives varied answers from different contributors on this question, which are as diverse as the life experiences of those who have explored this urgent and essential topic.

Critical Analysis

Mattilda and the contributors in the book have presented a wide range of experiences and identities in order to illustrate the loops that people need to go through in order to fit in. “Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity” takes everything that people believe about queer politics theory of identity and feminism, connects it, and reorganizes it, and presents it in an intriguing way that has never been seen before. Thus, nothing that the book presents is new concept or newly researched information, but they are all revisions of already researched ideas. Nonetheless, in this book, the author raises numerous questions regarding the restructuring of society and resultant issues such as intentional versus unintentional actions, integration, access, self-expression, and choice of representation. Other issues examined including rights to identity, sufficiency questions, activism expression are also examined in this book.

This book is quite an extraordinarily bracing composition of key sets of essays on contemporary politics such as the passing of people in different contexts including HIV/AIDS and domestic violence, farm work and Okie migration, as well as transgender politics. Although all these are topics concerning people’s daily political struggle and identity, the book’s attempt to form overarching solidarity between the writers does not make sense especially because they often appear to be disconnected from their own communities, communities that they claim to express grievances on behalf of. More so, as depicted in many instances in the book, most of the authors of these essays, most of them do not care or mind not being liked or disliked by the reader. “Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity’s” credibility is questionable, especially because some of the authors of the essays actually admit to inventing some of the details in their non-fiction accounts. For instance, Matilda adds that he was given a male label at birth, as if to mock the gay community.

This book is very realistic and on point, it unmasks the numerous challenges that are bound to arise when people presume that a progressive agenda is dependent on commonalities between different social justice causes. For instance, Matilda talks of how a group may hijack queer struggle and position their desires as everyone’s needs (7). Although this could be considered harsh because the editor refers specifically to the gay community, his sentiments are true and real in today’s world. This book does not exercise leniency on such groups, categorically stating that the movement on gay relationships and marriages has hijacked better debatable issues such as immigration.

This stance is a clear reflection of the contributors and the editor’s characters and perspectives on life. For instance, Terre Thaemlitz, who writes an essay on immigration and transgendered bodies, uses utterly offensive thus limiting the readability of the book to a certain age and even for the adults, some would find it uneasy to read. Terre says, “Boyspace with Buchalalis ended up being a mind (fucking) scape that proved to me once again what a masculine failure I am.” In addition, some of other contributors’ statements about themselves are too heavily declarative. “I’m a flaming queer radical polysexual two-spirit female-bodied middle-class multiracial bottom who always ends up topping anyway Filipina/Chicana antimisogynist transgender butch fag in a polyamorous committed relationship with kids, extremely bad credit, and chronic illnesses and incurable diseases that seem invisible” (16) Not only does the argument undermine any systemic inequality analysis, it is also feministic. Sycamore, for example persistently uses the female pronoun, asserting that passing matches assimilation, which also matches conformity, tyranny, and violence.

Other contributors in “Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity” continually expose the inequalities faced by other people, rebutting the concept that a world that celebrates sexual and gender identities is not necessarily a better one. This is a very distinctive and debatable position to take because unlike the usual ones, it is not meant to please everyone. However, going by the descriptions of the contributors, this is not unexpected because their personalities come across as brutally honest. For instance, Tommi Avicolli Mecca is described as a radical queer writer while Dean Spade is described as an activist. The editor also describes himself as simultaneously femme and queer (233).

“Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity” poses a challenge to the usually cherished but shabby views on authenticity, community, identity, home, and solidarity. As explained in the book, although these notions undoubtedly reinforce a traditional progressive movement, none of them meet the challenge of a world that has a blurred distinctions between left and right. For instance, as stipulated in the book, some people tend to believe that gender-queer specifically refers to nonconformity to stereotypical or traditional gender role expectations or to be queer and femme, but in reality, these terms are actually contradictory.

Myths on origin are deployed by most contributors of “Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity,” who feel that their concerns regarding social justice would be unheard if their lives differed from the predetermined authenticity and enlightenment templates. This book interrogates the emotional and affective grounds on what is regarded as social justice nowadays. This books gives bold insight into issues that people usually take a back step on—a path that very few books have taken. For examples, “Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity,” dares to ask whether it would be appropriate to fight for the rights of people whose life experiences do not fit paradigms or people whose professions are not immoral. Though some people may dispute the fact, usually, many people care less about rights of the people they do not like their professions.

The structure of this book, that is, its constitution of numerous books (anthology) may however not be the best way to tackle some of the sociopolitical issues that the contributors explore. This is because, the book does not give a proper flow of ideas on an issue from chapter to chapter, but rather, the issues are jumbled up and ideas keep on being supported and opposed as every contributor gives their view on the issue. In addition, the numerous contributors could result in repetition of ideas, and this redundancy may have resulted to an unnecessarily long book. By facilitating a forum of many writers who have distinct perspectives, Sycamore fails her writers because she unfortunately lumps them under her assumption rather than engaging or framing their different standpoints.

In “Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity” the contributors clearly demonstrate that the aspect of "passing" does not necessarily mean the same to everybody. For instance, when talking about, “racial passing”, the book shows the different meanings within communities of color compared to what “gender passing” means for many transgender people. In the book, contributor Eric Stanley is troubled by memories of his Africa-American grandmother who wanted to be considered white. At the same time, contributor Nikki Lee Diamond, a transgender, experiences torture from prison guards refusing to accept her as a woman. In addition, while passing refers to denial of community and history for one person, to the other it refers to embracing of oneself.

As with most anthologies, some essays in “Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity” are stronger compared to others. Overall, is a bold, humorous, innovative, and inspiring, anthology put together by Matt Bernstein Sycamore—an excitingly renowned activists on the scene today. It presents the good, the bad, and in between bucking the social norm.

Work Cited

Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein. Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity. Emeryville, CA: Seal, 2006. Print.